Restoration on the Cotswold Canals is a story of patience and graft, and the Cotswold Canals Trust’s latest update from the Dudbridge to Wallbridge section shows exactly why.

Two dredgers — cheerfully named Augustus Gloop and Hamster — are now at work along this river section. Augustus Gloop is heading from Dudbridge Upper Lock towards Chestnut Lane swing bridge, while Hamster works eastwards towards Lodgemore Lift Bridge. It’s slow going: the channel is thick with silt, walling stone and rubble that’s often hard to grab and lift, and a tracked digger has helped cut a deeper channel for the boats to move through.

Between hopper loads on a hot day, the volunteers even squeezed in some maintenance — greasing the JCB’s jib and clam-shell bucket and welding a few safety latches. The summer’s goal is to press on towards Wallbridge, where there’s now a date for Severn Trent to remove an old sewer below the bottom lock and restore full navigation.

Read the Trust’s full update here: Dredging from Dudbridge to Wallbridge.